Posted by
Russell Standish on
Nov 17, 2008; 8:16am
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Strogatz-and-Ratti-video-conversation-tp1503065p1508478.html
On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 05:06:03PM +0100, Jochen Fromm wrote:
> Who said that cities are thriving places for humans?
> I live in Berlin, which is not as big as London or
> Tokio, but it is loud, crowded and polluted enough.
> It is more exhausting than exciting to live here. Lots
> of carcinogenic and pathogenic substances in the air.
> You meet every day different people in the subway.
> I think in a small city people know each other
> much better, although you meet less people, you
> are connected with more.
Strogatz was talking about the network effect, sometimes known as
Metcalfe's law (also known as "there's little value in having the
first telephone, who're you going to call?").
Without doubt, the power houses of innovation (whether business,
science, technology or the arts) are in the big cities. This is no
doubt because less than 1% of the population is responsible for
this innovation, so it requires a reasonable population before you can
connect with someone of similar or complementary interests. This
network effect also draws the brightest to the larger cities, further
compounding the network effect.
The internet has helped to some extent in ameliorating this issue. I
don't feel the attraction to move to a city like San Francisco or
Boston, because I can have discusions in fora like this. This is just
as well - where I live in Sydney, a city of more than 4 million, I
have a beach at the bottom of my garden, and if compilation times are
getting to me, I can just put on a mask and snorkel and swim with the
fishes.
http://www.gordonsbayscubadivingclub.com/ I never thought
living in a big city could be so much fun.
Cheers
--
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